ST. LOUIS • The top story in a 1958 issue of the St. James Observer, one of many mementos on display at a Saturday homecoming, encouraged reflection on the past and giving thanks.
“It is always good policy, when one has traveled a certain length of time, to stop and look back upon what has transpired,” goes the story, which includes a black-and-white photograph of a dozen children who completed confirmation.
St. James United Church of Christ would operate another two decades in the College Hill neighborhood before shuttering in 1979.
After years of growth, the area of north ӣƵ went into free fall. Many homes were left in disrepair or became demolished as population declined.
On Saturday morning, though, people who used to attend St. James were taking stock of good memories and giving thanks again.
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“It has been depressing to come back to the neighborhood up until now,” said Pat Eggert, 72, of Wisconsin, one of about 40 people who attended the gathering.
They saw the fruits of Urban Born, a nonprofit organization that took over the church compound in 2012 and started rebuilding.
Johnel Langerston, 52, said he had moved his family there from California after Googling “worst place to live.”
He leads a small after-school program that includes classes and basketball.
“It’s easier to catch on now than catch up later,” he told the group, about Urban Born’s view on childhood development.
He recognizes there is a lot of rebuilding to do yet.
“We are a little bitty ant, but ants are very mighty,” Langerston said.
Several of the people in attendance had helped contribute more than $11,000 in donations for the program. Three sons of a pastor who used to serve at St. James started reaching out to former congregants after seeing the sparks of life Urban Born was making.
“Oh, look at that,” Mary Ann Rohan, who moved away to Franklin County a long time ago, said as she walked into the gleaming gymnasium. “It brings back memories of the old beautiful wood.”
Part of the bottom-floor bowling alley has been turned into classrooms and an eating area.
Barb Hofmann and Norma Noonan, both 65, said they attended vacation Bible school and watermelon socials there as children. They were in awe of Urban Born.
“Why not have something positive be contagious?” said Noonan, of O’Fallon, Mo.
There are plans to refurbish the parsonage for a life skills program for young women. Much of the home is gutted and in disrepair.
Mark Stahlhut and his two brothers lived in the home when their father served as pastor. During a tour, he looked into the kitchen pantry and recalled a boyhood hiding spot.
“I could just fit in here and nobody would know I was here,” said Stahlhut, 68, of Wisconsin.
LaVerne Albach, of Arnold, baptized at St. James in 1927, remembered Stahlhut when he was a 5-year-old in her Sunday school class.
She showed up Saturday toting a small wall hanging she said he’d given her then.
“It hangs in my bedroom,” said Albach, 89. “It reminds me of St. James, just a lot of wonderful memories.”
